Webinar: DSM-5 Diagnosis and New Diagnostic Categories

February 27, 2014

12:15 to 12:45 PM EST

Online

This event is FREE and open to the public.

Please join us for a webinar presented by Union Institute & University’s graduate psychology programs. Jerry Fishman, Ph.D., associate dean and faculty in Union’s M.A. with a Concentration in Counseling Psychology will host the presentation.

Learn more about the features of the American Psychiatric Association’s Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The DSM-5 is a highly useful and preferred guide to clinical practice. Through much research and discussion among academics and clinicians, the disorders in the DSM-5 have been reordered into a revised organizational structure and enhanced specificity of criteria for assessment and diagnosis of presenting symptoms has been developed. This webinar will discuss specifically the diagnostic category changes and additions to the DSM-5 and outline a strategic approach for practice.

For webinar visual: http://tui.adobeconnect.com/map
For webinar audio: 1-866-951-1151
Conference ID: 3425762
RSVP requested but not required: hanna.thurber@myunion.edu

Learn more about Union Institute & University’s M.A. with a Concentration in Counseling Psychology and Doctor of Psychology programs.

Free Psychology Webinar: DSM-5 an Overview of Changes

Online

Thursday, November 21, 2013
12:15-12:45pm EST

This event is FREE and open to the public.

Please join us for a webinar presented by Union Institute & University’s graduate psychology programs. Jerry Fishman, Ph.D., associate dean and faculty in Union’s M.A. with a Concentration in Counseling Psychology will host the presentation.

Learn more about the features of the American Psychiatric Association’s Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The DSM-5 is a highly useful and preferred guide to clinical practice. Through much research and discussion among academics and clinicians, the disorders in the DSM-5 have been reordered into a revised organizational structure and enhanced specificity of criteria for assessment and diagnosis of presenting symptoms has been developed. This webinar will discuss the changes to the DSM-5 and outline a strategic approach for practice.

For webinar visual: http://tui.adobeconnect.com/map
For webinar audio: 1-866-951-1151
Conference ID: 3425762
RSVP requested but not required: hanna.thurber@myunion.edu

Learn more about Union Institute & University’s M.A. with a Concentration in Counseling Psychology and Doctor of Psychology programs.

Time-Saving Secrets from Union Students

Union Institute & University students are extremely busy adults who must manage time carefully and balance their many responsibilities. Juggling work, school, family, volunteer, and social life activities can be a challenge. They seem to operate on a day with more than 24 hours! To find out how they manage it all, we asked four outstanding Union Institute & University students to share their top-ten secrets for succeeding as adult students.

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Nikki Dominique | Cincinnati, Ohio Academic Program:  Master of Arts with a concentration in  Leadership, Public Policy and Social Issues

1. Use your lunch hour for studying. Find a quiet place at work or go sit in your car and get some reading done. If you do this all week, you gain five extra hours of studying or five hours of free time in the evening or weekends to do something fun/relaxing with friends and family. 
2. Take one day off per week. Set aside one day, whether a week day or a weekend and don’t do any school work. It’s important to take time away from the stress of school work so you don’t burn out. 
3. Start out ahead and stay ahead. Use Sunday to prepare for the upcoming week, not as catch up for the previous week. Start your reading on Sunday so you can post early in the week. That way, if life gets hectic you have some wiggle room to get things done. This also helps your fellow students who need to respond to your online posts. 
4. If you have school-aged children, create family homework time. Complete your homework while your children complete theirs. If your children are not in school yet, have them color or complete an activity book. 
5. Communicate openly and frequently with your professors. If you are struggling with the content or the deadlines, talk to your instructors. Union has great professors, they will have ideas to help and will review content with you. 
6. Be honest with family and friends. Let them know you are starting school and how excited you are. Prepare them for the fact that you will have less time and may need to cut back on commitments and/or social outings. If they care about you, they will understand and support you on your new adventure. 
7. Stay organized. Keep a calendar, either electronic or an old-fashioned paper planner. Write in all of your school assignments, family commitments, and work assignments. Take a look at your planner every morning and evening to prioritize and keep on track with all of your tasks. 
8. Reward yourself. Just finished a big paper or hard reading assignment? Go out for ice cream or have your favorite candy bar. Going back to school is a challenge so recognize your accomplishments, even if they are small. It will keep you in a positive state of mind. 
9. Write down the top five reasons you are going back to school. Post that list somewhere that you will see it on a regular basis. When you are feeling overwhelmed and/or frustrated, look at those reasons to remind yourself why getting a degree is important to you. 
10. Make friends with your fellow students, even if you only ever speak online. These are the people who are going through the same things that you are. They understand your struggles and your triumphs. Your fellow students are a good support system and sounding board.

Nikki Dominique earned her undergraduate degree from Ohio University in 2002. She served in both the insurance and construction industries before joining Union Institute & University’s admissions department in October 2012. In addition to working, she is pursuing her M.A. with a concentration in Leadership, Public Policy, and Social Issues. She was drawn to the university’s online master’s degree program for its freedom in program design and flexibility to fit into her busy schedule.

Joe Behler | Cincinnati, Ohio Academic Program:  Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.)

1. Make sure your significant partner/friends/family understands the commitment you are making to doctoral study. 
2. Track the number of hours you spend each week on any Psy.D. doctoral work. This includes reading, ProSem, etc. I was surprised to learn I spent 29 hours a week in my first semester. 
3. After recording your average number of hours, then become more efficient. For example, I used voice dictation software to write papers and reduced the hours per week to 23-25. 
4. I worked full time my first year, against the advice of faculty, and this was a mistake. I reduced my work from 40 hours to 32 hours for my second, third, and fourth years and this helped. 
5. Read articles and books whenever possible. I often read at work when a client would not show or cancel an appointment. I gained some study time in this manner. 
6. Self-care is critical. Exercise, eating, and sleeping well are very important. I had to be careful about staying up too late doing school work, missing sleep and then feeling run down. 
7. I had to cut back some friendships and I focused on my partner, children, close friends, and family. There is a loss here but I would catch up on breaks, during the summer, and after four years. 
8. Organization is critical. I used my calendar to write down every assignment due date. If you follow the faculty program of expected classes and do not stray from it you will finish. 
9. I had the luxury of living in close proximity to the ProSem site. If you live farther away and must travel, get advice from student travelers on how to manage this time issue. 
10. I have fond memories of the extended weeks in Brattleboro and Cincinnati. After class we had fun together. Bond with your classmates and get to know the wonderful faculty.

Joe Behler selected the distance learning doctoral psychology program (Psy.D.) at Union Institute & University because the program allowed him to maintain a job in psychology while completing his doctoral coursework. Face-to-face training was on weekends mostly, once a month and two extended weeks each year, which gave Joe time for family commitments and studying.

Emily Dunham | Lincoln, Vermont Academic Program: Master of Arts with a Concentration in  Counseling Psychology

1. Do your homework!! Not just the readings/papers/tests, but also research specific state and national requirements for your chosen major. Develop a plan for after graduation and determine exactly what it's going to take to get there.
2. Be your own advocate. Part of graduate school involves increased personal responsibility to determine what you want in school, work, and life overall. Go for it! Find out who is going to be able to help you reach your goals and utilize them.
3. Don't procrastinate. This is big. I am notorious for saving everything until the last minute, and I can always count on a few miserable weekends towards the end of each term. Believe me, things are MUCH easier if you start early.
4. Use the writing center and your peers. This is easier said than done, but as this program is so independent, it can be easy to get off track and discouraged when you have no one to bounce your ideas off of. The writing center is always available to help!
5. Research Capstone early. A very useful part of the Capstone project is being able to incorporate earlier pieces of your own papers throughout the course of your educational career. After all, you can't plagiarize yourself! This is super helpful, but in order to really take advantage of this, you need to start thinking about your Capstone early and writing papers that can be tied to it later on.
6. Get to know your peers. I was not great with this over the course of my time at Union. The residencies are extremely useful to build relationships with other students, but only if you choose to engage. The residencies give us an opportunity to share our experiences with others who are balancing the same things and can be a very useful tool to enhance self-care.
7. On that note, pay attention to self-care. It's easy to lose ourselves in balancing the job, internship, school work, kids etc. It's very important to take time for ourselves in order to be fully present for our other responsibilities. I have found that self-care is the easiest thing to neglect in grad school and perhaps the most important thing to nurture.
8. Start looking for internship sites early. It's important to start this process very early. Think about what you are interested in. Submit several applications. Place follow-up calls. Identify a contact person to reconnect with to express your interest. It took me months to nail down a site and straighten out all of the details. Do yourself a favor and don't save this until last minute!
9. Research financial resources. Contact the financial aid office to ask about scholarships. As my time here at Union is drawing to a close, I am not faced with repaying my loans. Make sure to consider how these will impact you in the future. There are plenty of resources out there; you just need to take the time to seek them out.
10. Overall, my best piece of advice is to start early with everything and to speak up when you have questions. Union has plenty of very supportive and knowledgeable staff, and because of the online format, there is an increased personal responsibility to reach out for assistance when you need it. I have never had anyone ignore my questions or point me in the wrong direction.

Emily Dunham lives with her fiance and three dogs in Addison County, Vermont, where the couple recently purchased their first home. She works full-time at an animal hospital and also works 20 hours per week at an intensive outpatient treatment facility as part of her internship requirements for graduation. She really enjoys working with individuals trying to obtain recovery and she hopes to secure employment in this field upon graduation from Union Institute & University.

Nashid Shakir | Cincinnati, Ohio Academic Program: Master of Arts with a concentration in Leadership, Public Policy and Social Issues

1. Online learners must take control in planning their learning pace (Chizmar & Walbert, 1999), and also be realistic about their capabilities as they learn better about themselves, they must be willing to do better. 
2. They must monitor their own learning comprehension. (Shapley, 2000). 
3. They must make judgments on various aspects in their learning process (Petrides, 2002) and their personal learning style. 
4. Learners need to become aware of and actively explore various learning resources in an online learning context (Sener & Stover, 2000) with an understanding that their every subject and everything they learn on the front end of their academic journey is to prepare them for the rigid requirements that will be demanded of them at the end of their journey and that the whole is a combination of its parts. 
5. Learners need to develop strategies to effectively use resources and overcome challenges that are uniquely associated with online learning (e.g., written communication) (Hill, 2002). 
6. Online learners need to become motivated to overcome the procrastination challenge associated with online learning (see Elvers, Polzella, & Graetz, 2003), and to take advantage of online communication affordances to create meaningful interaction (King, 2002). 
7. Online learning provides flexibility for learners to pace their own study (Chizmar & Walbert, 1999). The anytime, anywhere feature of asynchronous online learning provides learners with the ability to plan their activities at the time and the place that are most convenient for them (Palloff & Pratt, 1999). This can often feed procrastination because the learners most always allow themselves more time than they actually they have. Be very careful, procrastination may be your biggest culprit! 
8. Learners still have the flexibility to choose the most convenient place from which to create their own learning space (Song et al., 2004), and decide on their own learning pace and sequence (Chizmar & Walbert, 1999). Be careful and do not over estimate your abilities or capacity. 
9. In an online learning environment, the monitoring responsibilities are in large part left to the learner. They must decide whether they understand the subject correctly [or not] (Shapley, 2000) or are heading in the right direction with their course work. Even though your professor may be only an email away, he or she may also not be! 
10. The level of responsibility for seeking assistance is also on you as the learner. It’s your time, your money, and ultimately your responsibility if you succeed or not!

Nashid Shakir has worked in social services and community capacity building for the past 25 years. Union Institute & University became a path to increase his effectiveness as a social entrepreneur. In his direct social environment there are a plethora of doctoral-level graduates and candidates from Union working to bring about productive change. These alumni and their achievements inspired Nashid to join Union's master of arts program.

Vermont Open House

Saturday, August 3, 201312-2pm EST | Brattleboro, Vermont

Union Institute & University
New England Academic Center 

28 Vernon Street, Suite 210
Brattleboro, Vermont 05301

Please join us for Open House in Brattleboro featuring Union’s newest location, the New England Academic Center. Learn about Union Institute & University’s flexible academic programs. Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts with a concentration in Counseling Psychology, and Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) programs will be featured with faculty, students, and alumni in attendance to answer your questions.

Union’s admissions team will be available to discuss your educational goals and a VSAC representative will present undergraduate financial aid details for Vermont residents. Information about Union’s Bachelor of Science, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) programs will also be available.

• 12:00-1:00pm | Registration and light lunch
• 12:30-1:30pm | Break-out sessions featuring faculty, admissions, students, and alumni.
  A VSAC representative will present information about undergraduate financial aid for Vermont residents.
• 1:30-2:00pm | Network and continued Q&A

More Info/RSVP:

Paul Moberly
brattleborocenter@myunion.edu | 800-871-8165 x8900

Union's Doctoral Psychology (Psy.D.) Program Earns Designation Status

Union Institute & University announced April 25, 2013, that the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) and the National Register of Health Service Psychologists Designation Committee voted at its March 2013 meeting to approve for Designation the Union Institute & University (UI&U) Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) program in Ohio and Vermont. 

Designation from ASPPB/National Register enables doctoral psychology programs to demonstrate that they meet widely accepted national standards, important to credentialing bodies, students, and the public. 

Union Institute & University Dean of Graduate Psychology Dr. William Lax said, “We are pleased to have received designation status. Union is one of the first doctoral psychology programs in the country using a blended delivery model to earn designation. We believe that our innovative program is a model for the future training of psychologists.” 

With this designation, a graduate of UI&U’s Psy.D. program who decides to apply for licensure as a psychologist will typically meet the jurisdictional educational requirements for licensing. Once licensed, a graduate of a designated program is eligible to apply for credentialing as a Health Service Psychologist by the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. Additional information is available on the ASPPB's website and the National Register. 

Union Institute & University’s Psy.D. program with a concentration in clinical psychology was founded in 2007. The program integrates classroom and online courses in its curriculum and students benefit from UI&U’s experienced psychology faculty and collaborative learning environment, developing the attitudes, knowledge, and skills they need to advance their careers. Students attend on-site classes every other weekend during the first year, and one weekend a month in years two through three. Bi-annual week-long Academic Meetings, bringing together students and faculty, occur in Brattleboro, Vermont in the fall and in Cincinnati, Ohio in the spring in years one through three.

For further information about the Union Institute & University Psy.D. program in Cincinnati, Ohio or Brattleboro, Vermont visit myunion.edu/psyd.

Psy.D. Program Hosts Open House in Brattleboro Dec. 9

BRATTLEBORO, VT –Union Institute & University (UI&U) in Brattleboro will host an open house to introduce prospective students to its doctoral degree program in psychology with a concentration in clinical psychology (Psy.D.), from 5:30-7 p.m., Friday, December 9, in the program’s offices located at the Marlboro Graduate Center, 28 Vernon Street, Brattleboro.  Faculty, admissions staff and current students will be available to answer questions and to explain key aspects of the program.

Consistent with UI&U’s mission, the Psy.D. program integrates social justice into all of its courses and emphasizes multiculturalism in clinical practice. “We train people to become more aware of injustices, such as trauma, abuse, oppression and racism, and prepare them to be active agents of change, both with their clients and the larger social system,” said Dr. William Lax, dean of the program. Students are trained to be culturally competent clinicians, able to provide mental health services to individuals, families, groups and organizations.

The UI&U Psy.D. program integrates face-to-face and online courses to offer flexibility for working adults who need to balance career, family, and other social and civic responsibilities. In addition to the online courses, students attend two week-long fall and spring academic meetings, as well as weekend professional development seminars and courses in Brattleboro about once a month for the first three years of the program.

Applications are currently being accepted for the fall 2012 Brattleboro cohort.
The program welcomes applications from those with either earned master’s or bachelor’s degrees in psychology or related areas.

To learn more or to register, call: 802-257-9411 or email: Admissions.PsyD@myunion.edu. UI&U’s Brattleboro offices are located minutes from Interstate 91 at the juncture of the Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts borders. It is easily accessible throughout the greater New England region.

UI&U's Psy.D. Program Offers Spring Continuing Education Workshops

CINCINNATI, OH – Union Institute & University’s (UI&U) Doctorate in Psychology program (Psy.D.) will offer three workshops for mental health professionals seeking continuing education credits beginning April 21. The workshops will be conducted by UI&U Psy.D. faculty and held at UI&U’s Cincinnati Academic Center in Walnut Hills. Union is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The workshops have also been approved for continuing education credits by the Ohio Counseling, Social Work & Marriage and Family Board. The cost for the workshops is $15 per CE credit.

Workshop Details:

Jennifer Ossege, Psy.D.



Evidence-Based Practices in Child Therapy

Presented by Joy McGhee, Psy.D. and Jennifer Ossege, Psy.D., Thursday April 21, 9a.m.-4:30p.m., 6 CE credits, cost: $90

Consumers, insurance companies and practitioners increasingly desire the use of proven, effective treatment interventions for their patients. This informative one-day workshop will define and examine a variety of Evidenced-Based Practices (EBP) as they apply to the treatment of children. The presenters will focus on the most commonly diagnosed Internalizing and Externalizing disorders, primarily Anxiety, Depression, ODD and ADHD, as well as treatment of trauma. Participants will gain increased knowledge of the current EBP literature as well as practical clinical skills and resources to utilize with clients.

Richard Sears, Psy.D.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

Presented by Richard Sears, Psy.D., Thursday May 12, 9 a.m.-4:30p.m., 6 CE credits, cost: $90

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an 8-week, evidence-based program which combines mindfulness and cognitive therapy techniques for the prevention of stress, depression, and anxiety. Through lecture, discussion, and experiential exercises, this full-day workshop will cover the characteristics and components of mindfulness, the structure and the delivery of the MBCT program, discuss the constituents of a mindfulness-based approach to working with clients individually, and explore the role of mindfulness for the clinician.

The Role of Assessment in the Evidence-Based Practice of Psychology



Jennifer Scott, Psy.D.

Presented by Jennifer L. Scott, Psy.D., Friday June 10, 1:30-4:45p.m., 3 CE Credits, cost: $45

Evidence-Based practice (EBP) requires that psychologists integrate knowledge of the best available scientific evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preferences in the provision of psychological services. Though efforts in the past decade have emphasized evidence-based approaches to treatment, assessment strategies are an implicit part of any intervention plan. Psychologists need to employ empirically based measures to not only conduct a functional assessment of presenting problems prior to treatment, but to track treatment progress and evaluate treatment outcomes. This workshop will explore models for defining and implementing evidence-based assessment in the treatment of adult psychopathology and address emergent issues.

Those who attend this workshop and complete the Union Institute & University evaluation form will receive the specific CE credits as designated for each workshop. For further information or to register for the workshops please contact the Union Institute & University Continuing Education Program at (802) 254-0152 or email CE@myunion.edu.